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L'institut Canadien de Recherches sur le Judaisme

Analysis

Yom HaZikaron: Solemn Day Hard for Diaspora Jews to Grasp

Memorial Day 2012 - The "Flag for the Fallen" ceremony, jointly held by the IDF, the Ministry of Defense, and other security organizations, in which the Israeli flag is placed on the graves of those who died in Israeli service, was held on Mount Herzl. The ceremony was held in the presence of the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Commissioner-General of the Israel Police, Brigadier General Yaakov Shabtai, Head of the Mossad, Mr. David Barnea, Head of the Shin Bet, Mr. Ronen Bar, Commissioner of the Prison Service, Major General Kati Perry, Deputy Director General and Head of the Families, Commemoration, and Heritage Division at the Ministry of Defense, Mr. Aryeh Mualem, Head of the Human Resources Division, Major General Yaniv Asor, Chairman of the "Yad Labanim" organization, Mr. Eli Ben Shem, and Chairwoman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, Mrs. Tami Shelah. SourceL: Wikipedia
Memorial Day 2012 - The "Flag for the Fallen" ceremony, jointly held by the IDF, the Ministry of Defense, and other security organizations, in which the Israeli flag is placed on the graves of those who died in Israeli service, was held on Mount Herzl. The ceremony was held in the presence of the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Commissioner-General of the Israel Police, Brigadier General Yaakov Shabtai, Head of the Mossad, Mr. David Barnea, Head of the Shin Bet, Mr. Ronen Bar, Commissioner of the Prison Service, Major General Kati Perry, Deputy Director General and Head of the Families, Commemoration, and Heritage Division at the Ministry of Defense, Mr. Aryeh Mualem, Head of the Human Resources Division, Major General Yaniv Asor, Chairman of the "Yad Labanim" organization, Mr. Eli Ben Shem, and Chairwoman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, Mrs. Tami Shelah. SourceL: Wikipedia

Zina Rakhamilova

Israel Hayom, Apr. 29, 2025

“Who could have imagined that just four and a half months later, the entire nation would experience unprecedented levels of terrorism and cruelty?”

We are in the middle of one of the most powerful and emotionally fraught periods in Israel, marked first by Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day, and then by Yom HaZikaron, or more formally, Yom HaZikaron laChalalei Ma’arachot Yisrael u’Nifga’ei Pe’ulot HaEivah, meaning “The Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism.”

Throughout most of my life, Yom HaZikaron felt distant. Even as I grew closer to my Judaism and began working as a Jewish and pro-Israel professional, the gravity of the day barely registered. Growing up outside of Israel meant that this period rarely stirred strong emotions. Jews in the diaspora, even those who care deeply about Israel, often struggle to connect because there’s little chance we personally know someone who fell in battle or was murdered in a terror attack, even if we have friends and family in Israel.

Diaspora communities usually hold ceremonies for Yom HaZikaron, but in my opinion, they often struggle to emotionally capture what the day means to Israelis – the rawness of the sacrifices so many have made. Without the personal loss of a loved one, it’s no fault of our own that the experience feels removed; formal ceremonies can feel too scripted to truly convey the solemnness of what it means to mourn the fallen.

It wasn’t until April 2023 that I began to understand the true weight of Yom HaZikaron. In the weeks leading up to Passover, Israel was rocked by back-to-back terror attacks, including the brutal murders of Lucy Dee and her two daughters, Rina and Maia. Their deaths pierced something deep within Israeli society, especially among Olim like myself, as the Dee family were British nationals as well. During the Hol Hamoed period in the middle of Passover, Lucy and her daughters were driving in the Jordan Valley when a Palestinian terrorist rammed their car off the road and shot them at point-blank range…..SOURCE

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